

The USB 3.0 port has to be used alone, however, so you can't connect the USB port and the Thunderbolt port at the same time. The Thunderbolt 2 ports can be used simultaneously, to daisy-chain the drive to a Thunderbolt display or another Thunderbolt-equipped hard drive. The power supply is internal, so you won't have to find a spot for an external power brick, like on the CalDigit T4 RAID and the 12TB LaCie 2big Thunderbolt 2. Swing the drive around, and you find two Thunderbolt 2 ports, one USB 3.0 port, and the jack for the Power cable. This gives you some flexibility while using the RAID array for your Time Machine backups or for keeping large file libraries always available. You can also replace it in the third bay with an SSD Reader pod ($49), a 1TB HDD pod ($169), or a CFast 2.0 Reader pod (no pricing announced as of this writing). You can remove the card reader and use it externally with an included USB 3.0 cable. They're hot-swappable in RAID 1 mode, but I wouldn't recommend removing them when they're in the default RAID 0 mode, as that could lead to data loss.Ī removable CF/SD card reader pod occupies the Pegasus2 R2+'s auxiliary drive bay, which is located above the other two bays. (While locks help secure drive sleds from prying fingers, they can also slow down drive replacement.) It's easy to remove either drive sled in seconds. The RAID array's two drive sleds (Promise calls them pods) are readily accessible from the front panel, without the locks seen on other RAID arrays like the 8TB CalDigit T4 RAID. The Pegasus2 R2+ is not quite as blazing fast as our Editors' Choice for high-end, desktop-class external drives, the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2, but it is still worth serious consideration for local backups via Apple's Time Machine and for use when quickly transferring large files from one computer to another.ĭesign and Features The Pegasus2 R2+ is built into a black, metal box measuring about 5.3 by 7.3 by 9.8 inches (HWD).

The "plus" in its name refers to the third drive bay, which comes with a media card reader installed, but that can be swapped out for optional accessories, like a solid-state drive (SSD) Reader pod. It combines the speed of two drives to give you added throughput and 6TB of storage. The Promise Pegasus2 R2+ ($749) is a versatile desktop-class external hard drive for both Macs and PCs, with a built-in two-bay RAID array. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.
